Week 2 http://www.scribd.com/doc/51886145/Vietnam 1. What is international business? What are the primary reasons that companies engage in international business?

-> International business is all commercial transactions private and

governmental between two or more countries. Private businesses undertake such transactions for profit; governments may or may not do the same in their transactions. These transactions include sales, investments, and transportation.
-> The first reason is to expand sales. The second reason is to acquire resources and the last one is to minimize competitive risk. 2. In your own words, define the concept of globalisation. What are the impacts of globalisation for the physical environment, individuals, socio-cultural systems, and nation states? Globalization is the ongoing process that deepens and broadens the relationship and interdependence among countries. There are expended cross national cooperation. Changing political situations. Increased global competition. Impacts of different currencies, languages, regulatory regimes, cultures.

3. What are three factors that have led to the increased growth in international business in recent decades? Which do you think has been most important and why? The first factor is rapid increase in an expansion of technology, the second

factor is liberalization of cross-border movements and the third factor is increase in global competition. The factor of liberalization of cross-border movements is most important because generally, governments today impose fewer restrictions on crossborder movements than they did a decade or two ago. They have lowered them for the following reasons. Firstly, their citizens have expressed the desire for easier access to a greater variety of goods and services at lower prices. Secondly,they reason that their domestic producers will become more efficient as a result of foreign competition. Finally, they hope to induce other countries to reduce their barriers to international movements.
The competitive enviroment is most important because it is not only competed strategy for products under changing the cost, differentiation and focus strategy but also faced with the other competitors in each market between local and international. If the company developed as well, they need more resources for the international operations and experience.

Week 3 1. What is the difference between a low-context culture and a high-context culture? How do these differences affect communication in international business dealings? -> Low-context tends to refer to individualistic nations and high-context tends to refer to collectivistic nations. In a low-context culture, the words used by the speaker explicitly convey the speakers message to the listeners. Anglo-Saxon

countries, such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, and Germanic countries are good examples of low-context cultures. In high-context culture, the context in which a conversation occurs is just as important as the words that are actually spoken, and cultural clues are important in understanding what is being communicated. Business behaviours in high-context cultures often differ from those in low-context culture. For example, German advertising is typically fact-oriented, while Japanese advertising is more emotion-oriented. High-context cultures place higher value on international relations is deciding whether to enter into a business arrangement. Low-context cultures place more importance of the specific terms of a transaction 2. What is the difference between a polycentric, ethnocentric, and geocentric approach to international management? What key factors should a firm consider before adopting one of these approaches? Polycentric is business units abroad should act like local companies. While, ethnocentric is home culture is superior to local culture overlook national different and geocentric is integrated home and host practices. 3. What is culture and why is it important? What are some of the major elements of culture, and how do these elements impact upon international business? Culture is sets of values, beliefs, rules and institutions held by a specific group of people. The cultural nuances that affect international

business obviously go far beyond the ability to greet your international colleague or choose the correct gift. Issues related to the cultures time orientation, whether it is an individualist or collectivist society, space orientation, and power distance, not to mention conflict assumptions and non-verbal communication all affect understanding your colleague across the table, as well as your chances of being understood.

Aesthesis, value and attitute, manner and custom, social structure, religion, personal communication, education, physical environment.

Week 4 1. Provide at least five reasons why understanding the political environment of the host country is so important. -> Understanding the political environment is important because governments affect almost every of business life in a country. National politics affect business environments directly through changes in policies, regulations and laws. Governments determine industry protection, labour regulations and property laws. The political stability, ideology and mood in a country affect the actions of a government. 2. What are the differences between democratic and totalitarian political systems? What does current research suggest about the spread of democracy and totalitarianism in the world?

Democracy basically involves wide participation by citizens in a decision-making process. Or as the text notes, Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States, saw democracy as a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." Practically speaking, a democracy is a political system that endorses the rule of law and grants the voting citizenry the power to alter the laws and structures of government, to make all decisions (either directly or through representatives), and to participate in elections that express their decisions. These are the principles and practices that enable a democracy to institutionalize political freedoms and civil liberties. As a result, democracy is typically represented by a high level of civil liberties, such as freedom of opinion, expression, and the press. In a totalitarian system, a single agent whether an individual, group, or party monopolizes political power and tries to mobilize the population toward two ends: unquestioning support for the official state ideology and opposition to activities that run counter to the goals of the state. The ideological standards of totalitarianism require agents of the government to eliminate dissent within the system. In dramatic contrast to the democratic ideal of freedom, totalitarianism enforces restrictions that subordinate the day-to-day life of people including occupation, income, personal interests, religion, and even family structure to the interests of the state through the use of persecution, surveillance, propaganda, censorship, and violence. Consequently, there is little to no political freedom and few, if any, civil liberties.